Choosing burn down herbicides for no-till wheat

Within a crop rotation, wheat is a useful crop, providing both grain and straw and breaking up continuous corn/soybean plantings. One key step to a successful planting is weed control. Recently Mark Loux, OSU Extension Weed Specialist, put together the following recommendations for burn down herbicide options in no-till wheat.

Herbicide options for burndown of existing weeds prior to planting of no-till wheat include glyphosate, Gramoxone, Sharpen and dicamba. Dicamba labels have the following restriction on preplant applications -- "Allow 10 days between application and planting for each 0.25 lb. ai/A used." A rate of 0.5 lb. ai/A would therefore need to be applied at least 20 days before planting. We do not know of any 2,4-D product labels that allow preplant application in wheat, and Liberty is not approved for this use either.

The primary targets for a preplant burndown in wheat are the small, emerged winter annual weeds that can overwinter and have a negative effect on wheat the following spring. This includes marestail (horseweed), chickweed, deadnettle, annual bluegrass, mustards, etc. Herbicide treatments at this time can also have considerable activity on biennials (wild carrot, wild hemlock), dandelion, and Canada thistle, although herbicides are often more effective on these weeds later in the fall. While glyphosate can adequately control small winter annual weeds, it should be combined with Sharpen or dicamba in fields with a history of marestail problems (or in fields downwind of a neighbor's marestail nightmare). Gramoxone should also effectively control small seedlings of marestail and other winter annuals. Be sure to use the appropriate adjuvants with Sharpen or Gramoxone, and increase spray volume to 15 to 20 gpa to ensure adequate coverage.

There are several effective post-emergence herbicide treatments for wheat that can be applied in November to control winter annual weeds, in fields where preplant burndown treatments are not used. Effective post-emergence treatments include Huskie or mixtures of dicamba with Peak, tribenuron (Express etc), or a tribenuron/thifensulfuron premix (Harmony Extra etc), among others. Huskie may be the most effective fall post-emergence treatment for control of marestail, where the marestail population is resistant to ALS inhibitors. We discourage application of 2,4-D to emerged wheat in the fall due to the risk of injury and yield reduction.

Pastures poultry tour

A pastured poultry roundtable and tour is scheduled for Saturday. The day begins with registration at 8 a.m. at the Local Roots Market meeting room in Wooster. Registration cost is $10 per person and includes morning refreshments. The roundtable presentations start at 8:20 a.m. Topics that will be addressed include: Forage Digestibility in Pastured Poultry by Darlene Bloxham and Dr. Michael Lilburn of the OSU Department of Animal Sciences; A Whole Farm Approach to Incorporating Pasture Raised Poultry into a Multi-Year Organic Rotation by Dr. Michael Lilburn, and a question and answer session with Aden Troyer of Pleasant Valley Poultry and Bill Karcher of Eagle Nest Poultry.

Following the roundtable presentations a drive-it-yourself tour will start at 10 a.m. Maps and directions will be provided to the two tour stops that include: The OARDC East Badger farm on Ely Road and Tea Hills Poultry. Participants can take a brown bag lunch to eat at Tea Hill Poultry or purchase lunch at the farm.

For more information about the tour contact John Anderson, research associate, at OARDC/OSU at 330-263-3753 or via email at: anderson.37@osu.edu .

Post drought management meeting

In July, Gov. John R. Kasich signed Executive Order 2012-11K, instructing state agencies to work with Ohio's farmers to minimize the potential environmental and economic impact of an agricultural drought. As part of the order, the Ohio Department of Agriculture was instructed to hold a series of educational meetings to discuss forage management, water availability, heat stress on livestock, mitigation strategies and other drought-related topics. ODA has recently scheduled a series of post-drought management meetings around the state. The meeting scheduled for our area will be held Monday from 5:30-8 p.m. at Fisher Auditorium, 1680 Madison Ave. on the OARDC campus in Wooster. The meeting will include information presented by ODA, OSU Extension, and the Farm Service Agency.

Sheep shearing school

A state-wide sheep shearing school will be held Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Dave Cable Farm, 10491 Canal Road, Hebron. Cost is $40 per participant which must be returned with registration form by Friday. For more information and a registration form go to: www.ohiosheep.org.

Rory Lewandowski is an OSU Extension Agriculture & Natural Resources educator and may be reached at 330-264-8722.